1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure is generally directed to child devices or juvenile products, and more particularly to electrically powered child devices and juvenile products.
2. Description of Related Art
Child swings and other juvenile products commonly include electrically powered components. The types of components vary widely, ranging from electric motors to speakers and lights of an audio-visual entertainment system, to name but a few. Most products utilize a battery power source to support these loads. As the electrical loads have increased with more complex product features and component functionality, some juvenile products have been plugged into a standard wall outlet to rely on AC line power.
Juvenile products have been constructed to deliver power from the AC line in different ways. For example, a child pendulum swing has been connected to AC line power by way of wires running along a frame leg to reach the elevated housing in which the electronics and drive mechanism are located. Assembly of the swing then requires a caregiver to connect the wires and the housing using a connector at the end of the wires. Unfortunately, both the wires and the connector are often considered unsightly.
Some juvenile products have wires running inside a frame leg. While these wires are thus hidden from view, a caregiver is forced to make electrical connections during product assembly. That is, the electrical connections must be made before access to the interior of the frame leg is foreclosed as a result of the product being assembled. The steps taken to establish these electrical connections resulted in added complexity in the assembly process. The complexity can lead to errors, thereby requiring assembly steps to be reversed, which may be impracticable or impossible.
Child swings have been equipped with a switch to select between battery-powered and AC line-powered operation. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0207870 describes one example of a child swing with a switch to support these two modes of operation. A caregiver generally must choose between the two power sources, make any necessary connections, and position the switch accordingly.